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We’re just getting started
Jul 31, 2018

I am humbled to hear that OnePlus has emerged as the best-selling premium smartphone in India in just three years in the market. As thrilled as I am by this early validation, it has also led me to reflect on some of our memorable experiences in India.

Incredible Journey

Looking back at our journey, I find it almost unbelievable that, when we launched OnePlus in 2013, we didn’t launch in India at first. Despite not being officially present in India, we already had people purchasing the product from European and North American markets to take back home. Realizing that the Indian community loved the product, we decided then to listen to their voice and take a leap of faith with this market. Even then, we planned to send around 5,000 units to India to control risk, as we were still skeptical about how the market would react. However, when we finally launched in India, we were pleasantly surprised to see that over 2 lakh people had signed up for the invitation.

As humans, we are quick to judge, but you cannot do that with a country like India. India is today a community that is our eye to the globe, a soundboard for experimentation through which we understand the pulse of the customer at a global level.

Three years later, India is our benchmark for creating successful global products. This young market is now set to become our second home ground, a center for product innovation. Our new R&D center in India is just the beginning.

In the five years since we started the company, we have steadily grown to become a global presence across 35 countries and we have our millions of users to thank for it. Last year, for the first time, we hit the $1 billion revenue mark and this year, with the OnePlus 6, it managed to sell 1 million units in 22 days. India, as a market has emerged as a frontrunner in what has been an incredible journey, making for almost 1/3rd of the company’s revenue in 2017.

Pillars of strength

This success we can with certainty attribute to the thousands of tech enthusiasts, fans and community members who have been our team’s support system from the very beginning, working with us to create the most perfect version of our product. Our community, in that sense, has been our biggest critics but also our biggest advocates.

As an individual, I am a strong advocate for nurturing the roots of long-term investments so that one may reap the benefits for years to come. Every decision made for the company has been based on this principle, allowing us to develop some truly valuable business partnerships over the years.

In India, we must acknowledge the contributions of several such long-standing partners who believed in our vision and understood our focus of being a customer-centric company even when we were a new entrant in the market. We truly value the role some of these partners like Amazon, Qualcomm and Croma have played over the last four years. We hope to continue to nurture these relationships in the years to come.

The Road Ahead

We are at the beginning of a long journey towards realizing our vision to create a healthy company that endures. In my opinion, if a brand survives a hundred years, then it would have inevitably changed the world while also having survived waves of evolution. As we continue in our strive to become a company that survives for over a century, these past few years are merely a speck in the larger scheme of things.

Looking back, staying focused is one of my most important takeaways. Staying focused on the cause and ideals we firmly believe in, and sticking to our own sense of rhythm and internal certainty, in the face of external pressures and temptations, is key. The reason that we have survived in this highly competitive atmosphere is inseparable from our focus on product - on building one flagship at a time.

There are two kinds of ideals in this world. The first is a personal ideal which is driven by the need for self-actualization. The second is an ideal, belief and value shared by a team; that becomes a reality through the efforts of the collective. Most people strive to achieve that first ideal throughout their lives, which is commendable. However, I hope that OnePlus can also be in a place to accomplish the second.

Wow. We Indians, love OnePlus products and your genuine pricing. And with the recent software changes and exciting announcements, people are starting to be more loyal to you.
Soon, you'll have the highest customer satisfaction too. Not just from India, but around the globe. And this will help OnePlus, as a company as well as a business, to be at the top of competition for a long run (just like the fruit company).
Never Settle.
(y)

Hey @Pete can we expect more care on the Indian market starting now? more experience stores, service centres and better customer support is all it takes to grab larger share. There have been many concerns regarding smaller issues but I'll not spoil the spirit of this announcement.

I Know this is very huge for a company like this, i hope it follows in the same way for the future and finally i as an indian like to see such companies existing where our needs (technology) Can be fulfilled with an affordable price that one can buy and ONEPLUS is such a Company and wanted to see more this kind of things we Indian's are most intelligent and are most tech savvy and knows what to choose and on what things to spend on And what makes indians to stick to such chinese companies is the only Major thing is trust That we have on you And why we stick with oneplus for a long time is the bond that company makes and the best thing that i found is the community which makes to stick with this and is a platform where a person is bonded with such great people and the company which makes us always to stick with it and Hope you will never ever brake this Trust and bond.

Last but but not the least Never ever Brake the promises that the company Makes In terms of anything.

What do we expect from you at the end of the day is your presence and assurance that you are here when we need you just your reply makes it, reply might not be in favor of us but just need a message from you if any problem is being faced
And All the best for the future @Pete.

This was on the cards, though these days i mostly only lurk around here instead of being very active, I remember the early days. Lot of us actually imported OPO before it was officially launched in India, it has been great journey and glad to see company mature into a solid sensible OEM. Not often do you get to see a birth of OEM even before the actual phone was released by being part of their community and then one day find them dominating the market in their segment. I hope more good things to come from OnePlus in the future.

Congratulations and wish you good luck in the path you choose to move forward.

You will have to improve the service network in the country, and more importantly the quality of work that will be done. in other words, people must be well trained both in terms of their skills to do the job as well as in terms of knowledge of the product (Customer Service people).

the world may not be revolving around India, but the Indian market indeed is one that captures the diversity of the entire world.